If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

User Info Menu

Join Date

May 2008

Location

Hawaii 5-0

Posts

17,181

Re: Doug Legursky is Steelers' new starter at RG

Steelers Apparently Going With Doug Legursky At RG

Posted on September 1, 2011 by JJ

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Doug Legursky will be the Steelers starting right guard when the season begins next week. After trying Chris Scott for a week and Tony Hills for two, the Steelers have decided to go with the safer choice.

Legurskyís short arms and small size (by offensive linemenís standards) means that he sometimes struggles when he is lined up head-on on a big defensive tackle. Too often he canít get his hands on his target before the DT gets his hands on Legursky, and that makes it a little too easy for Legursky to be shed. But on the other hand, he does do an excellent job of getting out to block linebackers on running plays, is good at pulling to lead the counter trey.

So why did the Steelers choose Legursky? From watching the line in the first three preseason games (plus all of last year), it appears to me that theyíve chosen the safest pick. I want to throw in my standard disclaimer here. Iím not an o-line coach, so if you want to take my observations with a grain of salt, feel free. But hereís what Iíve seen:

Tony Hills could end up being a better guard than Legursky eventually ó he has longer arms, more size and what appears to be equally nimble feet. But Hills doesnít execute his assignments as consistently as Legursky (after all, heís been a guard for just a couple of weeks). And while Legurskyís kryptonite is short arms, Hillsí problem is his height. Hills has long legs, which has proven to be a detriment as a guard. Watch Hills on a goal line play, and you can pretty much expect that his man will get lower than he does, which means Hills gets driven backwards. Watch Hills pull and youíll see itís tough for him to get low enough to drive his man out of the hole, he is better off just screening his man and trying to stay out of the way.

Ramon Foster started at times last year, but he doesnít really seem to have been a significant factor in the competition this August. If Legurskyís problem is getting shed at the line, and Hills plays too high, Foster is simply too slow. Play after play Foster was driven into the backfield because his man is quicker off the snap. On a running play, the first thing you want to see is whether the battle is being conducted on the defensive or offensive side of the line of scrimmage. In the case of Foster, heís playing too often in the offensive backfield. Foster may be the strongest of the guard candidates, but he doesnít pull well and struggles to effectively block linebackers.

So what do the Steelers get in Legursky? It probably helps their pass blocking because heís good at recognizing blitzes and has the mobility to molly block (pull outside to help pick out edge rushers). In the run game, Legursky may give up the tackle for a loss every now and then because of his trouble sticking his blocks, but he also will provide chances for some longer runs because of his ability to effectively block linebackers.

User Info Menu

Re: Doug Legursky is Steelers' new starter at RG

It has been said many times that Legursky is the smartest lineman we have on the team. I think him teamed with Pouncey will make for a knowledgeable pair on picking up stunts and delayed blitzes.

I think those 2 will be a heck of a duo. Add in Colon and Kemo pulling and we're gonna be piling up yards running right.

I was loving Legs last night. He played like his life was depending on it. He was moving some big dudes around with ease. His height really gives him some leverage against the big interior linemen that many of the bigger guys who can't bend just don't get.

User Info Menu

Join Date

May 2008

Location

Where the Rubber Meets the Road (in NEPA)

Posts

28,948

Re: Doug Legursky is Steelers' new starter at RG

Normally, we run to the right way more than we run to the left because Kemo is able to pull, while guys like Stapleton/Essex/Foster...not so much. But with Bronko's experience as a short yardage FB leading the RB through the hole, we may be using him to pull to the left as well this year. I did notice that we were running to the left a lot more against the Panthers than we normally do.

User Info Menu

Re: Doug Legursky is Steelers' new starter at RG

Doug Legursky spikes the ball after he scores against Carolina at Heinz Field.

Starting jobs have changed in New England and in Baltimore. The New York Jets have new starters and claimed four players off the waiver wire Sunday.

The Steelers? They are the "Same Old Steelers." Once that was a derisive term used in the 1950s and '60s to mock a franchise mired in obscurity. But there's nothing wrong with a team that has been to two of the past three Super Bowls undergoing virtually no changes in its lineup.

The reigning AFC champions will have one "new" starter of their 22 on offense and defense, right guard Doug Legursky, and he started four games there last season plus one at center in the Super Bowl.

Technically, Willie Colon also is new because he missed last season after an Achilles tendon injury. But Colon started at right tackle the previous three seasons. The only other change comes at left tackle with Jonathan Scott, but he started the final 11 games of 2010 through the Super Bowl after Max Starks had neck surgery.

All other starters remain the same from 2010, including the 11 on defense, where eight are in their 30s. You might have to go back before free agency began in '93, probably to the Super Bowl teams of the '70s, to find such stability.

"It says we have a good veteran group, that's definitely what it's saying to me," linebacker James Farrior, 36, said. "We have guys who have been around here for a long time. In general I think it helped with the overall process how the offseason went, it helped having a lot of older guys on the team."

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said all of his injured players who were held out of the final preseason game Thursday against Carolina should be ready to open the season Sunday afternoon in Baltimore. That includes cornerback Ike Taylor, who has not played since his left thumb was broken in the first preseason game (he will have the pin removed from his thumb Tuesday); cornerback Bryant McFadden, who has not played in the preseason because of a torn hamstring, and center Maurkice Pouncey, who left the third preseason game with an ankle injury.

"A lot of us are seasoned," Colon said. "When you have guys like that you can do well, because guys know their roles, they understand, they're accountable. That's where we're at."

The Steelers have just seven new players on their roster -- five rookie draft picks, one undrafted rookie and veteran wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery.

"In these days of free agency, a lot of teams probably aren't able to say that," tight end Heath Miller said of all the returning starters. "It should be a good thing and we should make it a good thing. We've been able to add some new pieces who can come in and help us out as well but we have to make it a good thing, that's the issue for us now."

Team captains
The makeover of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger continued when his teammates voted him one of four team captains Sunday, one year after he was removed from that role.

Plenty has occurred the past 18 months since Roethlisberger was accused but never charged of sexual assault in Georgia, all of it for the good. Many teammates last year spoke about the good changes they found in their quarterback, local writers voted him The Chief Award for his cooperation with them, he got married this summer and now has been re-installed as a captain.

He joins Hines Ward on offense, with Farrior captain of the defense and Arnaz Battle captain of the special teams.

"I think he's done a great job of just flat-out opening himself up to the team, keeping his nose clean," said Colon, a close friend. "He's in a real, good, stable comfortable place and he's taken on more of a leader role with a lot of us and he's a lights out player. Why not?"

Roethlisberger also served as co-captain on offense with Ward in 2008 and '09. Miller replaced him last year.

"I felt like he was one of the leaders on offense last year, he just didn't have the title of captain," Farrior said. "This year we gave him the title. Guys probably wanted to see where he was at and he showed he can be one of the leaders on the team."

Farrior has been a captain every year since '04 and Ward since '05. This is Battle's first year as a captain with the Steelers, although he also was a captain in San Francisco, where he played seven years before joining the Steelers last year as a free agent.

User Info Menu

Re: Doug Legursky is Steelers' new starter at RG

Team captains
The makeover of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger continued when his teammates voted him one of four team captains Sunday, one year after he was removed from that role.

Plenty has occurred the past 18 months since Roethlisberger was accused but never charged of sexual assault in Georgia, all of it for the good. Many teammates last year spoke about the good changes they found in their quarterback, local writers voted him The Chief Award for his cooperation with them, he got married this summer and now has been re-installed as a captain.

He joins Hines Ward on offense, with Farrior captain of the defense and Arnaz Battle captain of the special teams.

"I think he's done a great job of just flat-out opening himself up to the team, keeping his nose clean," said Colon, a close friend. "He's in a real, good, stable comfortable place and he's taken on more of a leader role with a lot of us and he's a lights out player. Why not?"

Roethlisberger also served as co-captain on offense with Ward in 2008 and '09. Miller replaced him last year.

"I felt like he was one of the leaders on offense last year, he just didn't have the title of captain," Farrior said. "This year we gave him the title. Guys probably wanted to see where he was at and he showed he can be one of the leaders on the team."

Farrior has been a captain every year since '04 and Ward since '05. This is Battle's first year as a captain with the Steelers, although he also was a captain in San Francisco, where he played seven years before joining the Steelers last year as a free agent.

I was literally just about to do a "Predict the Steeler Captains" thread, but there it is.

For the record, I was thinking we might go back to having 2 each on offense, defense, and special teams, going with Ben Roethlisberger, Maurkice Pouncey, James Farrior, LaMarr Woodley, Arnaz Battle, and Will Allen.